Agustín Ojeda: Turn the Page and Continue

How a diminutive young star’s persistence, on and off the field, can bolster a team that is desperate for it.

Journalist: “Question for Agustín. Fernando commented that you hadn't been with the first team for a while because…”

Gago: “No. I won’t allow him to answer.”

Adorned in his usual all-black attire, Fernando Gago sported a loosely buttoned dress shirt and slicked-back hair. As a journalist posed a question to his player, Gago effortlessly struck it down while mid-pour of a Smart Water into a clear chalice, displaying the same dexterity that characterized his control over the midfield of Boca Juniors and Real Madrid for the two decades prior.

Agustín Ojeda, the freshly turned 19-year-old, sat beside him. A brief inaudible chuckle escaped him, followed by the slow contortion of his strained smile into an almost fearful scowl.

This tense moment cast a lone shadow in the glow of celebration. The two Argentine men of Racing Club stood before the press corps following a triumphant comeback in the second leg against Atlético Nacional of Colombia. They avenged a 2-4 away loss with a resounding 3-0 home win, securing their advancement to the quarterfinals of South America’s premier soccer tournament, Copa Libertadores.

Ojeda was instrumental in the match. In only his third professional start, he scored the club’s second goal right after half-time, showcasing a clinical finish via an individual effort through the right half-space. His contributions continued with a blazing recovery of an errant long ball, ultimately leading to the decisive third goal.

It was promise beginning to be fulfilled. As the gem of Racing’s academy system, Agustin embodied this promise, notably marked by his selection as the first youth player to receive first-team minutes during Gago’s managerial reign. Affectionately, his youth coaches called him “Trapito”, translating to “little rag”, due to his diminutive stature and waif-ness amongst his colleagues. This nickname persisted despite a modest growth spurt to a gentlemanly five feet six and a half inches.

Journalist: “No, but I want to ask him what changed.”

Gago: “Ahhhh, ok, ask him whatever you want about what changed.”

Gago permitted the room to relax again. However, the needling reporter was only probing the obvious, focusing on what had overshadowed Ojeda’s narrative thus far. This crafty youngster and savior of the evening had first been entrusted by Gago with a 12-minute cameo at the age of 17 on the referral of enthralled academy instructors. But he just as quickly disappeared from the senior team sheet for 15 months after his debut. 

The truth is Agustín contributed to his lengthy absence, starting his career off with multiple late arrivals to practice. Yet, what remains important to those involved - what fomented the resurfacing of a glowing talent, what allowed him to regain the respect of a revered sporting figure in Argentina to the extent that Gago would defend him like his son, and why the future holds so much potential for him - is the confluence of Ojeda’s on-field self with his off-field approach to his career. He discovered a relentless and unabated drive, a refusal to back down no matter his size or the magnitude of his challenges, and an always forward-looking perspective.

Trapito regained his composure and answered:

Ojeda: “What changed? Turn the page and continue. I made a mistake and I knew how to recover. Turn the page and continue.”

---

New York City Football Club is emerging from what could be considered its most abysmal offensive season ever. The team experienced its second-worst goal differential in large part due to its stale attack, scoring 0.65 goals less per game than the previous year. They also scored 14 fewer total goals than the disjointed offense of its inaugural 2015 season, culminating in the lowest conference position in team history - a basement-dwelling 11th place out of 15.

Now, in early 2024, the glaringly obvious weakness of the squad seems equally apparent to the roster decision makers. The club already made midseason signings of forward Mounsef Bakrar and winger Julián Fernández and double downed with the offseason acquisitions of Austrian Hannes Wolf and Ojeda, with additional attack-minded weapons rumored for the future. Hitting rock bottom, the team chose not to remain in the doldrums of Major League Soccer - even within a league that does not punish with relegation. An aggressive offensive transfer strategy indicates General Manager David Lee’s intent to write a new chapter.

It’s hard not to feel a sort of deja vu when examining NYCFC’s investment in Ojeda, and you don’t have to look much farther than Julián Fernández. Two Argentine 19-year-old wingers, both hailing from prestigious Argentinian football academies, signed as long-term high-ceiling investments. However, while one might conclude a level of redundancy from those descriptors, that is perhaps as far as the comparison goes.

While Julián glides through defenders with a collected and cool ease, Agustín spins around them like a fiery dust devil. Julián nimbly prances upright, resembling a doe in tall grass, whereas Agustín scurries like a toddler that just nabbed his mother’s iPhone - arms wide, hunched over, each step pounding the ground.

Their physicality and playstyles translate in their statistics as well. As a left-footed right-winger, Fernández favors cutting inside, gracefully feeding slip passes to his forwards, or taking a chance from the corner of the box. He delights in the half-space and will stop in traffic to recycle to his midfielders as needed. 

As a right-footed natural right-winger, Ojeda hugs the touchline as an off-ball specialist, starting his runs with an immense burst of acceleration to exploit space behind the defense. His downhill speed allows him to take advantage of open areas extremely successfully, ranking in the top 6% and top 11% of Argentine league forwards in progressive carries and progressive passes received, respectively. When needing to offload the ball, he prefers to rip in low crosses along the baseline into a forward’s lap.

In this clip from the Nacional match, Ojeda finds the open space behind the left back before bounding toward the net for the goal:

Despite their differences,  Ojeda and Fernandez share a delight in facing up defenders. Both players were in the top percentiles¹ in taking on opposing players, with Ojeda ranking in the top 5% in volume of successful take ons. It is also clear that this headstrong approach has contributed to half as many expected assists coming from him than his compatriot Fernández. 

It’s crucial to highlight the adjustment Agustín Ojeda would have to make at NYCFC, especially in an eventual post-Talles Magno world. Nick Cushing’s preference for opposite-footed wingers may forecast Ojeda being deployed in a less-favored left-sided position as a Fernández antipode. If so, he will need to be less reliant on his flanking maneuvers and integrate into the more fluid and flexible inside-out offensive style that has become emblematic of NYCFC. 

If anyone possesses the attitude required to make such an adjustment, there’s no need to search for a better candidate than Trapito himself. Not only was Ojeda installed numerous times on the left side under Gago in deference to the more senior Juan Quintero on the right, but Ojeda’s physical prowess and nose for the penalty area are the type of multidimensional high-floor attributes that coaches dream about.

Ojeda has already shown glimpses of the attacking Swiss Army knife he could be molded into - in the same Nacional match, he astutely observed the center forward occupying the right while the defender cut off that lane. Adapting swiftly, he laid the ball off and moved into a central holding role. Receiving the ball again, he skillfully maneuvered past his marker one-on-one (of course) before threading a precise pass through three defenders to create a chance.

Relentless persistence has always defined his game - whether navigating his own Tabalda as a youth, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Rosario, Argentina, to overcoming his diminutive stature with boundless courage on the field, or redeeming himself after a squandered opportunity with the senior team, ultimately returning as a hero. 

As Fernando Gago said of Ojeda:

Gago: "Agustín is not the same as last year, he grew as a player and as a person, and now he is at a very high level”.

NYCFC, too, faces the imperative of growth and is beginning to show signs of ambition. The second-youngest squad of last season, led by the league's youngest manager, must rebound from the worst year in the team's history. Perhaps New York City has found the perfect partner in overcoming that challenge - a player and a franchise that both hope to “turn the page and continue”. ❧

Image: Pier Francesco Mola, Caricature of a Seated Man Reading

1. via fbref, compared to men’s “next 14” leagues